by Jaime Clarke (Author)
F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby is widely considered to be the greatest American novel ever written, its exploration of decadence, idealism, social upheaval, and excess having been described as a cautionary tale regarding the American Dream. In this entry in Ig's acclaimed Bookmarked series, author Jaime Clarke examines how this seminal novel influenced his writing and life.
Author Biography
Jaime Clarke holds an MFA from Bennington College. He is the author of the novels Garden Lakes, World Gone Water, We're So Famous, and Vernon Downs; editor of the anthologies Don't You Forget About Me: Contemporary Writers on the Films of John Hughes, and Conversations with Jonathan Lethem; and co-editor of the anthologies No Near Exit: Writers Select Their Favorite Work from Post Road Magazine (with Mary Cotton), and Boston Noir 2: The Classics (with Dennis Lehane and Mary Cotton). He is a founding editor of the literary magazine Post Road, now published at Boston College, and co-owner, with his wife, of Newtonville Books, an independent bookstore in Boston.